Ferry dependence Vancouver Islanders’ lives affected by B.C. Ferries Page A3
NEWS: Political leaders make waves in Victoria /A2 ARTS: Plaza Hotel’s hotbed of history revealed /A13 SPORTS: Oak Bay skaters excel at Provincials /A4
OAK BAYNEWS HEART AND SOUL
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Friday, November 16, 2012
Green map connects residents and visitors with local cultural locations Tim Collins News staff
I
t’s a map, but not the sort of map that you might imagine. This map doesn’t concentrate on marking streets, geographical features or any of the traditional aspects that we’ve come to expect. This document might be said to map the soul of the Oak Bay community. It’s called a green map and it’s been six years in the making. The genesis of the process occurred when Oak Bay councillor Pam Copley, Oak Bay Community Association volunteer Jill Croft and a group of other Oak Bay residents took a course at Royal Roads University that introduced them to the concept of green mapping. It’s an idea that began in New York City in the 1990s as a way of connecting tourists, residents and new arrivals to the green spaces and culturally significant locations within New York. The idea caught on and soon grew into a worldwide phenomenon. There are more than 750 interactive on-screen maps in 61 countries. “It really caught fire, to where it’s now a growing movement to create a collective vision for communities,” said Ken Josephson, a cartographer and graphic artist at the University of Victoria, who has been a major participant and contributor to the Oak Bay project. “It really is a way for us to establish a heart connection between people and their landscape.” It’s been a long process for Oak Bay and has involved forums, consultations and a level of public participation that has transcended what one would generally associate with a map-making exercise. “It really is about the process,” said Tom Croft, the president of the Oak Bay Community Association and one of the driving forces behind the green map project. “We had a transportation forum, a multitude of conversations about green space preservation and use, conversations with schools, heritage organizations – you name it,” said Croft. The end result of the process is twofold. The
Sharon Tiffin/News staff
Oak Bay Community Association president Tom Croft shows off the new Oak Bay Community Green Map which reflects the core values of life in Oak Bay. most obvious outcome of the process is the map itself. Its production was made possible by contributions from the heritage commission, local businesses and individuals and the real estate board.
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The document is visually stunning and arguably more a work of art than a map. Richly illustrated with vibrant, colourful images and icons, it plots the locations of those things the
people of Oak Bay identified as being central to their identities. PLEASE SEE: Environment, resources included in map, Page A12
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